Orlando Magic 111, New York Knicks 99
by Evan Dunlap on Mar 24, 2011 3:59 AM EDT
in 2010/2011 Recaps
Email
PrintBehind 33 points from Dwight Howard and tight second-half defense, the Orlando Magic dealt the New York Knicks their fourth straight defeat, 111-99, at Madison Square Garden. All five Magic starters scored in double figures, but more importantly, Orlando shut down a Knicks offense that hung 59 points on the board in the first half to just 40 after intermission. Knicks power forward Amar'e Stoudemire had a miserable game from start to finish, shooting 6-of-20 from the floor for 13 points; New York simply didn't get enough offensive help from other sources, despite Toney Douglas' surprising 17-point turn off the bench, to keep up with a balanced, potent Magic attack.
Orlando got off to a hot start, building a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter, but the complexion of the game changed when Douglas checked in midway through the period. He scored 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting in his first stint, helping New York to close the gap to 28-25 after one quarter. Indeed, Douglas seemed to open the floodgates for New York to start cranking in threes--they shot 9-of-17 from deep in the first half--the foremost reason they took a 59-55 lead into intermission.
| Team | Pace | Efficiency | eFG% | FT Rate | OReb% | TO Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic | 88 | 126.6 | 56.6% | 32.9 | 33.3 | 17.1 |
| Knicks | 91 | 109.1 | 47.6% | 22.6 | 22.9 | 12.1 |
| Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average. | ||||||
The Magic worked their way back into the game with stiff third-quarter defense, which drastically cut down on the Knicks' open scoring chances. New York shot 7-of-23 in the period for 19 points, figures which include a dubious goaltending call on Howard which awarded two points for Carmelo Anthony.
The defense helped, for sure, but a 7-0 run by the Magic during the third brought them back to within a point of the Knicks and erased their biggest lead in just 2:15. The teams traded buckets for a few trips before Orlando took control in the fourth quarter behind Howard.
And there's the biggest takeaway from this game, at least for me: Orlando, with a tenuous, one-point lead on the road against a talented team, did not mess around when it needed to close the game. It played through its franchise cornerstone on nearly every trip. That's important, as Orlando has neglected Howard late in close games throughout the season. In the fourth, Howard scored 11 of his 33 points on 1-of-2 shooting from the floor and 9-of-11 at the foul line.
In Jared Jeffries and Ronny Turiaf, the Knicks have two players who can handle Howard better than most in the post, but with New York trailing, coach Mike D'Antoni elected to play Stoudemire at center in order to get more offense. His idea, a sound one in theory, backfired. Howard managed to get deep position and gave the Knicks no choice but to foul him.
Due to all the foul shots, the fourth quarter won't exactly make Howard's season highlight reel, but perhaps his work earlier will. 11-of-15 shooting from the floor for Howard as he chewed up the Knicks with a series of back-to-basket moves. There ought to be no argument anymore about his offensive game: he is well nigh unstoppable on that end most nights.
His teammates, or at least the ones in the starting lineup, did more than their fair share. Jameer Nelson, who tore the Knicks up with his drives to the basket in the previous meeting between the teams, spent tonight bombing away from the perimeter off the dribble, scoring 19 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Hedo Turkoglu impressed me even more than Nelson, with a 16-point, 11-rebound effort to complement Howard.
61 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Love the new headline!
Will anyone else be joining the team in growing playoff beards?
Orlando Magic. Oregon Ducks. Seattle Mariners. Jacksonville Jaguars.
it'll be a little hard, what with not owning testicles and all
Liberation Day: April 3, 2011
by TheGiantSquid on Mar 24, 2011 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Or Sharpie, I guess
Given your face probably isn’t pre-coloured.
by eltharion_doa on Mar 24, 2011 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm considering it
I’m already a pretty lazy shaver, but living here in northern California I don’t think people will get it.
“There are basketball playoffs? Oh, you mean the Lakers.”
“No, for my hometown Orlando Magic.”
“OH! Florida. You guys don’t have a chance because Lebron isn’t clutch.”
“Um, yeah. Hence the beards.”
The plural of "anecdote" isn't "data."
Loved this game!
From the jump, it was obvious that the Team came to play with passion. So much so, that I don’t think anyone worried about the NY hot shooting in the second… the Team looked that good!
Turk and Bass on the rebounds… just the doctor ordered; Howard inside… Nelson and J.Rich outside; hell, even Arenas played with Gusto!
If this is the norm from now on… there’s no stopping the Magic in the Playoffs.
Only those pesky To’s kept it from being a PERFECT game…
Great game for the Magic. Good win.
OT: Article on NBA.com (Playoff upsets)
Scott Howard-Cooper: The Magic, in a 4-5 matchup with the Hawks….. But part is that the Hawks have done well against the Magic. Orlando’s defense and rebounding should get it out of the first round, but Atlanta has the ability to make it interesting.
Did they really do well against us? I need to know what this guy’s been puffin’.
maybe the Hawks are really playing better against us this season than last season
but I am afraid we may end up playing 76ers when playoff starts!
Yeah
What’s with the Hawks suddenly?
If Atlanta play Horford at the C against the Magic, it’ll be a 5 game series at most. If they play a bigger guy and move Horford to PF, they’ll give Orlando a series although I still think the Magic would win.
by eltharion_doa on Mar 24, 2011 5:38 AM EDT up reply actions
The Magic have played the Hawks three times this season
The two teams played twice before the big trades the Magic made on December 18th, with both teams winning once. They last played on December 20th, the first game the Magic played with their new team after the trades, and Atlanta won at home 91-81 as the Magic understandably had very little chemistry in their first game with the new players.
The final regular-season game between the two teams will be next Wednesday in Atlanta, and I expect the Magic to make a statement in that game and play a heck of a lot better than they did in the previous three games with the Hawks.
Chicago Bears... 2010 NFC Conference runners-up
Chicago Blackhawks... 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Champions
Orlando Magic... 2009 Eastern Conference Champions
by Mike from Illinois on Mar 24, 2011 5:53 AM EDT up reply actions
One of the worst-efficiency games of Amare Stoudemire's career
The 13 points that Stoudemire scored on 6 of 20 shooting was the fewest points he’s scored in his career in games where he has taken at least 20 shots.
The nine free throws that Brandon Bass made in nine attempts tied for the most free throws he’s made in a game in his career (he also made nine free throws last Friday against Denver).
The 25 free throws made in 28 attempts (89.3%) for the Magic was their second-best free throw percentage in a game this season when they have attempted at least 15 free throws.
After the Knicks shot 50% in the first half from the field with an eFG% of 61.3%, the Magic held them to 14 of 44 FG shooting (31.8%) in the second half with an eFG% of 35.2%, while the Magic shot 51.5% from the field in the second half with an eFG% of 57.6%.
Despite Gilbert Arenas’s three turnovers, he scored a very efficient nine points on 3 of 5 shooting, with six of those points coming early in the fourth quarter when the game was still close.
Good win for the Magic!
Chicago Bears... 2010 NFC Conference runners-up
Chicago Blackhawks... 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Champions
Orlando Magic... 2009 Eastern Conference Champions
by Mike from Illinois on Mar 24, 2011 5:35 AM EDT reply actions
It's a lot easier to go through Dwight when he's making his frees
Great game from him, although the Knicks would have got better post defense wheeling the statue of David onto the court and parking it in the paint.
No one really annoyed Dwight.. the Knicks didn't have a Perkins, Dampier or Bynum type that will make it excessively physical on Dwight
Some nights when he gets too amped up, he starts bricking the free throws. That’s an unproven hypothesis though
But it’s still inconsistent. The past 2 games he’s only missed 4 FTs out of.. I think 25 attempts. But in the Denver game, he missed 7, going 6/13.
I would like OPP's fans opinion on something.
My boss comes in and says, “I told you the other teams PG would light it up against Orlando.” He likes Jameer but says he can not defend. With Derrick Rose practically a lock for MVP, does it even matter if you can defend opposing PG’s? In a league where you can no longer hand check and just breathing on wings and guards is a foul, what are players suppose to do? I basically said that I do not think it is as important to defend PG’s now. If they make jump shots they make jump shots. But I did not see anyone get consistently to the bucket when it mattered the most last night. Agree or Disagree?
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
Rose (and Rondo) have generally had a tough time slowing down Jameer as much as he has trouble slowing them down.
"I never look at the points," Howard said. "Rebounds and blocks are what win games for me."
http://www.twitter.com/JShannonhouse3
http://www.twitter.com/Amway_Get_Loud
Billups was 5 for 12 and Douglas was 7 for 14. That is not really "lighting it up".
Jameer was 6 of 10 and 4 of 6 from behind the line. Who was failing at guarding whom?
Okay, a simple "wrong" would've done just fine.
"We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors." - Weldon Drew
by Both_Teams_Played_ on Mar 24, 2011 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I agree. That is why we have this debate at work all the time.
I think Jameer does a servicable job at the point. I know we have a lot of excitin PG’s in the league, but PG’s usually never win you a title.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
The Magic play team defense.
While Jameer isn’t a great defender his job is to try and funnel his man to the middle toward Dwight. In Stan’s scheme Jameer’s shortcomings (no pun intended) get mitigated. IMO
I know.
It just a byproduct of today’s rules. Jameer is pretty strong, him hand checking someone would be great.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
i always have this debate about our PG's
jameer is pretty good. but the thing i hate about him is when he has those night he plays like duhon when we need him the most.but he can light up other PG’s on a night to night basis.
Gil looked awesome last night by simply playing
within the system and playing D. IMO while JJ is out our bench players should be Gil Q Earl and Ryan. Gil could have easily played 26mins last night with the way he was playing on both ends of the floor.
Yes he was the only JVG had anything positive to say about for Orlando.
I don’t know if he is trying to be as unbiased about Orlando as you can be, but man he is hating on them every game he calls for them. When you have the second best player in the league and at worst the 3rd best coach in the league, I think you have a chance to win a title. These guys are not srcubs that Dwight plays with. LeBron second best player was Delonte West. Dwight had Rashard, good enough second banana to get to the Finals. So I do not think we are favorites, but to outright dismess Orlando completely just makes no sense.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
by Mateo9399 on Mar 24, 2011 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I elect JJ to start instead of Jason..
Every time he touched the ball it seemed to miss. Layups, Threes.. All missing. I had enough of this guy.. let him come off the bench!
Ewing got the largest standing ovation of the night.. The whole garden got up cheering.
He has been red hot the last month or so.
I know the last couple of games he has been off, but he is still a better player than JJ. Plus JJ is injured as well.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
We've had enough of you, but let you hang around.
"I never look at the points," Howard said. "Rebounds and blocks are what win games for me."
http://www.twitter.com/JShannonhouse3
http://www.twitter.com/Amway_Get_Loud
by JeffShann3 on Mar 24, 2011 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It looked like he was playing with a purpose finally
and was very focused on D even though he gave up a few drives to the middle but i guess thats what help D is for. IF SVG would just sit Duhon and give all the guard mins to Gil he might bounce back faster but only on nights like last night when he is active and he can actually get up and down the court
by magicjunky2 on Mar 24, 2011 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Jeff has been doing that since
his brother started coaching. It’s been driving me nuts for years. I don’t mind his commentating but when it comes to Magic games he is ridiculous.
Fortunately, he seems to call just about every national game for the Magic
/sarcasm
The plural of "anecdote" isn't "data."
JVG
i agree with you, I said the same thing, He can’t dislike OUR team as much as he says!!! He total dismisses the MAGIC..“they’re tooo small”, they’re soooo slow, yada,yada Bring on the sixers!…GO MAGIC!!!
So many Fake Knicks fans at the Garden...
This one couple with brand new jerseys fell asleep during the 2nd qtr.. People around them started taking pictures with them!
I think D’Antoni made matchup mistakes and didn’t take advantage when Howard sat out. sure the Knicks were up by a few points, but when Howard is on the bench, I would’ve had Amare out there getting busy!
There was a case of the players being tired though..
It was a semi boring game.
And then the Magic put the strangle hold on the Knicks in the second half.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
I only watched the second half
So I was impressed very much with our defensive effort. If we could put that effort consistently in the playoffs I think we’re in good shape.
Dwight was great as usual, and I was very pleased with our rebounding effort and our ability to dive for the loose ball.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
Defense was fantastic in the second half.
Like many have said before, when they want to, the Magic play lights out defense.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
love last nights game
we played great D. hitting shots. and won. there are some ?‘s i need to know. 1st what’s going on with Ryno. he’s not playing well lately. when is j.j coming back. why can’t we play clark like that every game. 6-9 minutes per game i mean we did give up our 1st round for him. why not use him. and why does arena’s never get any calls when he gets mugged taking it inside? u barely touch Carmelo, Gasol, kobe, LBJ, PP, and they always get calls. unfair calls at that. o well we won. onward to the next win.
I think I have answers
1) Ryno seems a little gassed. His first year logging heavy minutes.
2) not sure about JJ. Should be ready by playoffs which is all that matters
3) With Clark it is all about matchups. And his offense is putrid. He has moves but needs some SVG coaching in the offseason
4) No one can answer that. Literally the last 3 months or so, he has tried to get to the rim. Probably because he has no lift he can not lean into anyone and draw contact. That seems the most logical to me, regardless he is getting hacked down there. To the refs it just looks like he is falling since he is not bouncing off the defenders.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
i know clark's def is good and his off ?able
and i know i’m the only but there are a lot of times i see see clark under the basket wide open for a alley-oop, dunk, or easy lay-up. and the only person i see trying to give it to him for those plays is Gil. look i know a bunch of u are probably gonna say clark is not ready or we don’t need him on the floor because of his offense. but i say give the back-up C minutes to him instead of bass.
His defense is decent, and his offense the worst in the league.
Literally — the worst in the league.
His true shooting is at 45.4% right now. There are only 11 players in the league, out of 335 playing enough minutes, with worse shooting.
A lot of those are low-usage defensive specialists (Ben Wallace, for example).
Of the three players with comparable or greater usage: TJ Ford is a point guard, and a decent backup distributor. So he’s automatically better than players who don’t do anything well.
Rookie Jordan Crawford (whose 25.6% usage is stunningly high for such a bad scorer) is at least averaging 1.9 assists in 18.6 minutes a game. Clark is averaging 0.3 in 11 minutes a game.
Which leaves Rasual Butler. .430 true shooting, 20.3 usage, 0.6 assists to 0.5 turnovers in 17 minutes a game.
Clark is… probably a better offensive player than Rasual Butler.
Maybe better than Crawford. You could make an argument that he’s better than Ronnie Price, Johan Petro or Louis Amundson, who are lower-usage but somehow even less accurate.
He is a worse offensive player than everyone else getting regular minutes in the NBA.
Bass and sharks are BOTH fish.
True.
Nor should he.
Bass and sharks are BOTH fish.
Agree 100%
He and J Rich are always running to the rim for layups and dunks. Nobody sees them.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
Only way he would play Center would be against Golden State.
Seriously. He is not a center. Maybe if he gets bigger. But he is a PF, who can defend long jump shooting 3’s.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
I get what you are saying.
It is not just height. Bass’s style can be somewhat transmitted to the Center position. Clark’s play style does not fit it. Clark is not a stretch 4 either. He is more of a new hybrid 4. He is not a typical 4 but he is not a 3 either.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
Plus Bass out weighs Clark by 25 pounds.
Although Bass is 2 inches shorter, the 25 pounds of muscle makes a difference down low.
Okay, a simple "wrong" would've done just fine.
Quote of the Week: "One day I am going to be the guy standing at the pearly gates explaining that I was just in there, but they forgot to stamp my hand."
by Both_Teams_Played_ on Mar 25, 2011 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
so what can we mold him into
we gave up a 1st for round for him. and i know we are gonna resign him. but what are we gonna do with him?everybody is saying he’s not good enough to play at the 3. but is to small to play the 5. and we’re full at the 4. i mean we are gonna use him in the playoffs right?
He will be a unrestricted free agent, he may not be with the Magic if there is a next year.
Okay, a simple "wrong" would've done just fine.
Quote of the Week: "One day I am going to be the guy standing at the pearly gates explaining that I was just in there, but they forgot to stamp my hand."
by Both_Teams_Played_ on Mar 25, 2011 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Keep him as a situational guy, I imagine, on a cheap deal. Maybe $1.5-$2.5 million
My sense is the Magic would like to keep him, and he’d like to stay. If he develops, you’ve got a nice rotation piece to back up Hedo. If he doesn’t, oh well.
He was a throw in
We gave up nothing for him.
by eltharion_doa on Mar 25, 2011 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions
true
Okay, a simple "wrong" would've done just fine.
Quote of the Week: "One day I am going to be the guy standing at the pearly gates explaining that I was just in there, but they forgot to stamp my hand."
by Both_Teams_Played_ on Mar 25, 2011 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions
exactly
we gave up a mid 20’s pick in a weak draft. Plus at least clark was a lottery pick. So we actually got more value out of our pick this year. If he was worth a lottery pick, we might not know, still has, in theory, more talent then whoever we would have drafted this year at our spor
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
Well, except...
…that the last couple late first-round picks who ended up with the Magic were Courtney Lee and Ryan Anderson.
(Oh, and I guess Orton. But I’d take Orton over Clark… we don’t know that a healthy Orton would be horrible. We might guess, but we don’t know.)
Bass and sharks are BOTH fish.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
NBA Playoffs Content Module
Related FanPosts on Orlando Pinstriped Post
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Contact Us
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Finally, Shelvin Mack and Robert Pack have a dance dedicated to them (VIDEO)
- Create-a-Caption: Allen Iverson, superfan
- Kobe Bryant-themed Gotye cover song waxes wistful for ‘The Kobe That We Used to Know’ (VIDEO)
- After the city canceled its outdoor viewing party, Oklahoma City Thunder fans work to get it back
- Chris Kaman eats breakfast in room of death, plays Sasquatch, builds giant medieval weapon
